


Humanity's Guardian

by Aoren



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 14:58:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1514669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoren/pseuds/Aoren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Military Police was nothing if not a group of corrupted and loathsome rats. Over the past five years, Jay Starke couldn’t help the bile that rose in her throat whenever she met the eyes of new recruits, the top ten. She would look at the number one spot from the side of the stage, remembering the day she had pledged her heart to the king. The same day she had vowed to murder Lance Corporal Levi. <br/>Jay Starke was never supposed to go beyond the wall. Never supposed to run blindly into Trost. Never supposed to bump into Eren Jaeger.  The young captain was never supposed to be tossed back into the waiting hands of the Survey Corps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Humanity's Guardian

_Ten year olds with 3DM Gear.  Jay and Arlen Strake almost could hold back the snickers that threatened to break free of their throats as they hid underneath the covered wagons that carried supplies for the Survey Corps. The idea had come from the younger of the red haired twins who had for the longest time wanted to satisfy her curiosity with wildlife such as deer and wolves.  Horses provided her with little interest and, too kind of an older brother to let her go along, Arlen agreed to help her slip past the watchful eye of their parents and the Garison._

_Wound as tightly as possible around their bodies were harnesses secretly taken from new trainees after an intense stakeout in a laundry basket. Sometimes the curse of living with a father who worked in training new recruits became useful. Their faces had become such a normal sight for those who worked on the training ground that it rose no suspicion to casually walk around, their loot hidden in a pack_

_The mission was simple: stay hidden until they were safely outside the walls. When no one was watching, they were to jump and roll into the covers of the trees. They would have possibly four hours to explore before the Corps turned back for the Wall.  After they found the animals that Jay desired to see, it would not matter if they got caught. Kids were kids, drawn to and completely unaware of danger. Death was an afterthought on their minds._

_“What if we run into a Titan?” Arlen asked softly, his voice barely loud enough for his sister to hear. They had decided to keep their mouths shut until the Gates closed behind them and the question had been burning in his mind since they had hopped inside and covered themselves with cloth that would eventually be used to wrap the dead._

_“Weapons,” Jay whispered back to her brother as she carefully scooted closer to him, her fingers wrapping around the white material of his shirt. It was something she did when she was nervous, as if clinging to her brother would bring some sort of peace in a world of uncertainty._

_“They’re heavy,” Arlen warned and he pulled the tarp just below his green eyes to check where the weapons that they would probably have to steal were. On previous occasions it had taken him several times to lift the angled blades and, being the most realistic of the pair, he wasn’t sure he could even carry it around, let alone wield it in a fight._

_“We’ll be fine, Len. Did you forget that you have the strongest kid in Trost on your team?”_

_“Yeah…” He knew his sister perhaps a better than she knew herself and it came at no surprise she was giving herself a lot more credit than was due. If it came down to it, they would be a tasty Titan treat. He had let her win too many rounds of arm wrestling to boost a confidence that was already ceiling high. “Maybe we should just stay back here. Do you really want to go and see a wolf? What if we don’t find it?”_

_Jay shot her brother a look of annoyance. She could believe that he was thinking of backing out now. She could almost hear the birds overhead calling to her. It was a sound much stronger than anything Arlen could ever say to her. And they both knew it._

****  
  


Another patrol. Jay Starke heaved a sigh as she walked the length of Wall Sina, the sun beating down against her back. It wasn’t that she hated the everyday tasks of the Military Police. She had signed up as soon as she and the other members of the 99th graduated. She was safe here, locked up and far away from humanity’s enemy. Still, there were times where she wished that she that she could be part of some adventure, something bigger than being a Military Police Squad Leader.

It was a busy morning, Jay noted as her green eyes flitted from person to person, watching them calmly walk from destination to destination. They seemed so light, as if a gentle breeze could blow them away. It must have been wonderful to feel like a feather, not weighed down by their fears and worries. None of their breaths were short, shaky, or carried a hundred words that couldn’t be spoken. Careless was the word to describe the people of Wall Sina and as peaceful as their lives seemed to be, they were defenseless, cattle unable to protect themselves from the wolves while those in the military were dogs.

“Thinking of civilian life again, Jay?”

She reclined her head with a crack to stare into the mirror image of herself. Lips curving upwards in an excited smile as she whirled around to face Arlen Starke, the only person she loved more than, well, herself. To say that Arlen was handsome would be understating it. Females from other squads would gush and coo over his eyes that mirrored the color of moss, his sharp jaw structure, the shoulder length ginger hair that he kept tied back in a ponytail, and the touch of some accent that he never fully developed. Jay was a lot shorter than her twin, her hair cut two inches below her jaw and obscuring her right eye. Although they were born the same day, she was, in almost every way, less than Arlen.

“Would you be surprised if I said yes?” She asked as she tugged on Arlen’s sleeve, pulling the tall boy into a hug made awkward by their 3DM Gear.  Their gas tanks knocked against each other, making one of the most unpleasant sounds she had ever heard.  The familiar smell of citrus informed her that he had visited their parents on a day dedicated to peeling oranges for cake.

She could almost remember the scents that filled the bakery she had spent her childhood in.  The first days of the week started with a mission given to them by their mother. As young as five years old, the fiery haired twins would take to the streets of Trost, looking for the best ingredients to make pastries. It wasn’t rare for Jay to deviate from her brother’s side and the times she got in trouble could not be counted on one hand.

On one particular morning, she had found herself craving cherries from Lars, who sold the sweetest ones in all of town. She could taste them in her mouth as she dashed across the road without looking and wound up getting herself caught in the heart of the Survey Corps parading down the road, on its way outside the walls for another expedition. Heavy hooves hit the ground around her, causing her to shake. Snorting horses brushed against her side, their beady eyes glancing at her with little interested. Her body froze in place as a large white horse approached her. She could have sworn that it would have run her over if Arlen had not grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the other side of the street at the last moment. It was that day that she lost her interest in fruit and started day dreaming about the military.

“Did you save me some?” Jay hadn’t visited her home since her promotion to captain nearly a year ago. From on top of the wall, if she turned towards Rose, she could sometimes catch a few glimpses of her father saying goodbye to his former trainees as they embarked on their first expedition.

“I took the last piece,” he confessed with a cheeky grin. One of his hand settled on top of Jay’s head and he ruffled her hair, making a few strands stick up. Everyone in her squad had taken up the habit of messing with her hair, taking the fact that she didn’t rebel when Arlen did it as a positive sign. Jay was not amused by it. “Go to mom. She’ll make you one.”

“But the last time I saw dad, he said--”

“Starke!”

Two heads turned to see the tall figure that belonged to Gus Crow bounding towards them, his long legs allowing him to easily take long strides. As he skidded to a stop, his boots kicked up dirt that would collect at the sole after a few days outside the castle wall.  There was something in his steel grey eyes that reflected excitement, but for what they knew not. He raked a hand through his shaggy black hair as he took a few seconds to catch his breath. Gus wasn’t out of shape, but he had a habit of rarely using his 3DM Gear and ran almost everywhere.

When he didn’t say anything, the twins leaned forward, their jade eyes focusing on the face of the older boy, wondering exactly what it was that had gotten Squad Starke’s second in command so worked up. “What? What is it?” They asked in unison.

“Your uncle is looking for you,” he told her in the voice that she always looked forward to hearing. Another accent that Jay rarely heard among the normality of the people around her. It sounded so crisp, so sophisticated, which wasn’t far from Gus’s personality--when he was in front of people.

“Keith?” Her head tilted to the left to raise a brow at her older brother, as if he held all the answers in the world.  He usually did and that made him her go to guy. This time he simply shook his head. “What does he want?”

Gus shrugged one of his broad shoulders. “I don’t know, Starke. Let’s not keep him waiting.”

An elbow nudged Jay’s side, urging her to move forward. She shot her brother a pouty look and playfully reached for he swords, only to let her hands fall to her sides at the last moment. Gus hooked a thumb over his shoulder to tell her which direction Keith was in and Jay quickly followed him, Arlen taking the rear.

“Your hair has grown long,” Arlen told her as  he moved to her side, sticking close to her in a way that made her feel safe, warm, and comfortable. He picked a short string from her shoulder and blew it from the tip of his finger. “You might have to cut it.”

Jay trapped a strand of her hair between her thumb and index finger, inspecting it. Her bangs had started to grow past her jaw, covering more than just her right eye.

“You’re going to look like Arlen soon,” Gus commented as he watched his captain inspect her hair. Her hair was something that Jay rarely paid attention to, but the black haired boy couldn’t help but get shivers at the thought of Jay looking like her brother. “All the girls will be all over you.”

“What’s wrong with looking like me?” Arlen growled lowly, his eyes narrowing. He had never been a fan of Gus, even from the first days of training. Something about him rubbed Arlen wrong, but he had never been able to give his sister a good enough explanation.

“It’s nothing bad of course,” he replied, a nervous smile on his lips as he glanced at the two. “I just think you--”

The wall seemed to vibrate underneath their feet, causing the hair at the back of their necks to stand on edge. They had felt this before, years ago, during the first ti--

They whirled around to face Wall Rose just in time to see a cloud of smoke slowly evaporating. Jay’s heart slammed against her rib cage as she watched the Colossal Titan’s head rear over the wall, it’s skinless face almost grinning as it towered over the Trost gate. Her face drained of it’s color, making her appear like a ghost. Only one word was running through her nearly blank mind.

_Mom._

**Author's Note:**

> The title isn't 100%. I am at a loss as to what to name it . Ahhh! I hope you're enjoying it so far. Jay is probably my favorite oc that I've ever made up.


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